


Flap Flap Flap

by RhymePhile



Category: Oz (TV)
Genre: Angst, Banter, M/M, Romance, Wordcount: 100-1.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-01-02
Updated: 2007-01-02
Packaged: 2017-10-12 09:38:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/123494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RhymePhile/pseuds/RhymePhile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Short piece in which Keller wakes up in the middle of the night to find Toby pacing their cell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flap Flap Flap

  
Flap. Flap. Flap. Flap.

Flap. Flap. Flap. Flap.

Squeak.

He opened one eye, pulled out of restless sleep by the sound.

Flap. Flap. Flap. Flap.

Flap. Flap. Flap. Flap.

Squeak.

He turned over to find Toby pacing the cell, padding back and forth in front of their bunks in bare feet. His toes squeaked on the cold cement floor every time he turned around.

"Toby?"

The other man stopped suddenly in mid-stride. "Sorry...did I wake you?"

"Yeah, but that's okay." Chris sat up on the edge of the bunk and ran his hand over his face. "What's goin' on? Did you have another nightmare?"

They met eyes, and then Toby turned away to resume his march. "It's nothing...go back to sleep."

"Well, we ain't got any carpet, Tobe. Can't you worry about your nothin' without breezin' by me every two seconds? Fuck, it's hard enough to sleep in this place."

Toby walked over to the sink and pressed his hands against it, then lowered his head.

Frowning, Chris got up from the bunk and walked up behind him. "Hey," he whispered, running his hand over the back of Toby's head, "I didn't mean to snap at ya."

"It's..."

"You can tell me if you're in pain or somethin'. I won't tell nobody."

Toby looked up into the mirror at stared at Chris in the reflection. Then he surprised Chris by lifting his head and leaning into the touch.

For the past few days they'd been distant, ever since that night Chris tried to sneak his hand into Toby's boxers.

It had all started with the conversation with Vern. Chris owed him for Lardner, he said. He would make his life in Oz difficult if Chris didn't help with his "Operation Toby" and getting the "little blond fuck" to fall in love with him. He'd really had no choice in the matter, because despite his show of bravado, Chris just didn't have the jizz in his first few weeks in Oz. He was between a cock and a hard place.

With no alternatives, Chris started in on the fake concern, the caring touches, all the bullshit he knew would work. He could be a charming bastard when he needed to, something he had honed to homicidal precision on the outside. His grin took him places, and he was working it with this pretty little broken lawyer.

He was keeping his feelings out of it; do the job, move on, get Vern off his back. That's all it was.

He was fine until the night Toby finally decided to join in on his many attempts at conversation. He never expected the brooding, nursery-rhyming weirdo in the top bunk to actually _listen_ to him.

They began talking about small things at first: the food, the weather, the springs constantly sticking them when they tried to sleep. Slowly it began to evolve into chats about old movies, interesting books, and sometimes cars. Toby's taste in cars tended to focus on the sleek and expensive, but at least they had something in common.

Chris, strangely enough, began telling Toby things about his life he hadn't shared with anyone else in a long time. They talked about their wives and Chris let slip about how he smoked a joint before he walked down the aisle that one time with -- he couldn't remember. They'd laughed about that. Then came the story about Gary falling off his skateboard, and Chris related a tale about gashing his leg open on a barbed wire fence when he was 10. When they talked about what foods they missed, Chris admitted he missed his mother's meatballs.

They were lying there on their bunks one night babbling about toys they had as kids when it hit Chris: he was actually falling in love.

Standing behind Toby now and feeling the other man move closer, he realized Operation Toby was complete, for both of them. What was unexpected was that Chris actually felt guilt over what he was doing. That must have been what that knot in his stomach was all about for the past few weeks.

Toby turned to face him and gently touched Chris's forearm. The brush of skin was hesitant, but then Chris completed it and took Toby's hand. Chris could feel the tension in Toby's body like an ember just about to burst into flame. He wanted desperately to kiss him and light the spark.

"You gonna tell me why you're pacing like a caged tiger?"

Toby inhaled deeply and just looked at him, his eyes dancing all over Chris's face. Then, he smiled.

"I was wondering about something." He looked down at Chris's hand in his. "But I think I just got my answer."  



End file.
